With continued advances in technology, today's consumers find themselves with an ever increasing number of personal digital devices to choose from. These include cellular phones, “smart” phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable GPS units, compact game systems, compact audio/video players and wireless reading devices.
While these electronic devices continue to improve, with an ever increasing list of features, they still suffer from a long-standing problem: their vulnerability to the elements, in particular dust and water. They are also susceptible to damage from general wear and tear, most noticeably the scratching or otherwise negatively impacting of the video screens. Protective covers have therefore been developed in order to protect these devices.
Most of the cases currently on the market are almost indistinguishable from a myriad of generic cases. They almost always offer face, side, and back protection for the encased electronic device, often including protection on the user interface (such as a click wheel or key pad), but leave the screen, switches, headphone ports, and charger ports or dock connector ports entirely exposed. Some models may include a screen protector that is applied as a separate component to the casing. As these screen protectors are not an incorporated component of the product, they will not protect against exposure to dust or moisture and are designed solely to protect the screen from scratching.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,896,453 teaches a flexible, plastic, waterproof enclosure wrapped around the circuitry of an electronic device (in this case a cellular phone) inside the phone housing. While providing water proofing for the device, it provides no protection to the screen.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,785,566 teaches an electronic device case comprised of a foam casing covered in vinyl having a transparent viewing window and hinged openings for the speaker and microphone. The case is designed to absorb impact and be waterproof and stain resistant. While suitable for the last generation of cellular phones having raised buttons, the foam case is large and cumbersome, running counter to the trend of small and streamlined electronic devices and not adapted for use with the touch screen devices available today. In addition, while a transparent window is provided with the case, the windows are not integrated or bonded to the case, and are therefore neither water nor dust resistant.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,312,984 teaches a number of protective case designs, all of which are rigid, hard-shell cases. A number of the protective cases are watertight, crush-resistant and impact-resistant. These cases have an outer shell in the form of an upper and a lower shell that are hingedly connected. A protective membrane is connected to the shell to allow a user to view, and use in the case of a touch screen, the device screen when the device is placed in the protective case. Adapters (for example, a head phone jack) may be disposed within the case for connecting to the device so that the user need only connect to the case, such that the protection afforded by the case is not affected.
While these devices provide significant protection for the electronic devices they are designed to carry, they are large and cumbersome, turning an elegant, svelte electronic device into a larger, plastic-covered device, and are relatively costly. In addition, the protective membrane is connected to the shell by way of an o-ring, which could lead to problems with water ingress should the o-ring become dislodged or otherwise improperly connected. An alternative embodiment teaches connecting the protective membrane to a protective foam which in turn is connected to the outer shell. Such a connection, presumably using an adhesive, could lead to delamination of the protective membrane from the protective foam and problems with water ingress.
None of the prior art cases offer a soft-shell, compact case with comprehensive protection with a fully enclosed screen that is video compatible at a price that is affordable for the average consumer. It is therefore an object of an embodiment of the present invention to provide a soft-shell electronic device cover that provides protection from dust and water but that is less costly and cumbersome than those taught in the prior art and a method for making same.
Other objects of embodiments of the invention will be apparent from the description that follows.